Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
I have been there. (I'm occasionally there when I'm here!) I still have the chunks taken out of me to prove it. It's one of the reasons I took up writing, in fact.
Last night, my father suggested something that probably makes more sense than federalizing: Seizing all manufacturing operations of failing companies like GM and ceding them to other automakers like Toyota, at a significantly discounted cost for the facilities, on the understanding that they would retool to build particular models of their cars (Prius, in Toyota's case) in and for America.
The discount for the plants might translate into lower costs for the vehicles, making them more attractive for Americans to buy.
The alternate possibility would be a partial retool, where the plant would continue to build many of the same vehicles, but modified with more efficient electric or hybrid power plants. The full and partial retool strategies could be applied to each plant according to their present vehicle output (i.e., most inefficient-vehicle plants, including most truck plants, get fully retooled, salvageable-vehicle plants get partially retooled).
I agree that this also beats handing GM bailout money.
Oh, yeah: Diet Decaf Dr. Pepper? How do you do it?
|
No sting here - but how would that differ from letting GM go bankrupt and letting other car makers buy the facilities? The shareholders would get nothing in either case, and only the most effcient facilities would be wanted in either case.